Diverse crowd: 'We need the bus'

Friday

Jan 25, 2008 at 2:00 AM

EASTHAM — At yesterday's public hearing on proposed service cuts at the Cape Cod Regional Transit Authority, calls for a letter writing campaign to urge Gov Patrick to include more money for regional bus services in his proposed state budget were drowned out by applause.

PATRICK CASSIDY

EASTHAM — Gov. Deval Patrick may need a bigger mailbox.

At yesterday's public hearing on proposed service cuts at the Cape Cod Regional Transit Authority, calls for a letter writing campaign to urge Patrick to include more money for regional bus services in his proposed state budget were drowned out by applause from the more than 100 people packed into the basement at Eastham Town Hall.

The demographics of the crowd ran the gamut. But buses were a common denominator.

"Almost half of the kids at my school take the Flex bus," said Eastham resident Harrison Miller, one of the youngest riders to address the crowd.

"We need the bus."

The 13-year-old student at Cape Cod Lighthouse Charter School in Orleans was among dozens of speakers to extoll the virtues of the Flex bus service, which has been in operation for two years.

The Flex bus travels a standard route on the Lower Cape, but door-to-door service can be arranged by reservation for an additional charge.

Stolnacke, 48, had a stroke 20 years ago. Despite a speech impediment and being admittedly nervous, Stolnacke presented transit authority officials with a letter from her Boston-based neurologist, who asked for the sake of his Cape patients that the Flex buses continue to run.

But the Flex bus service appears headed for a dead end.

Patrick's proposed spending for regional transit in the fiscal year that begins in July falls $6 million short of the $62 million that the state's 15 transit authorities requested.

The Cape transit authority is already facing a shortfall of almost $1 million. Money to bridge that gap could come in a supplemental budget appropriation but Patrick's office has yet to confirm that will happen.

Patrick is not offering regional transit authorities the level of funding they want, but his proposed budget would increase regional transit spending 8.4 percent, state Executive Office of Transportation spokesman Adam Hurtubise said yesterday.

"The state faces fiscal

challenges but this administration is committed to RTAs," he said.

Hurtubise would not comment on the possibility of a supplemental budget rescue for the Cape's regional transit authority or Patrick's willingness to revise his recommendations for regional transit money in the next state budget.

The Cape transit authority called hearings this month on proposed cuts to keep buses moving despite tight funding. The Flex route and the Barnstable Villager are among the transit services on the chopping block.

"If you don't care about people, then just bottom-line it governor," Bernie Kaplan of Eastham said during yesterday's hearing.

Others said that once services were cut, they would be difficult, if not impossible, to get back, dooming many Lower Cape residents to isolation and ongoing transportation headaches.